SSE to close remaining shops in Scotland

An era will end in communities across the north and north-east when Scottish Hydro Electric pulls the plug on its remaining 37 stores.

The “hydro” shops, selling electrical and white goods, are expected to cease trading on May 15.

Twenty-eight shops in Grampian, Highland and the islands will close, including branches in Aberdeen, Peterhead, Huntly, Lerwick, Kirkwall and Stornoway.

Owner SSE is holding talks with 119 employees affected by the move and will aim to redeploy workers.

It is also shutting down its online shop, and said it wanted to “avoid redundancies wherever possible”.

The energy giant’s director of domestic retail, Stephen Forbes, said the stores had been making losses for a number of years.

He said: “Customers’ shopping habits have changed considerably since these shops were first opened, with more and more people shopping online, especially for larger electrical items.

“We know some of these shops have been on local high streets for a long time so we did not take this decision lightly, but footfall and sales have reduced considerably and there is, unfortunately, no realistic prospect of that long-term trend reversing.

“Our priority is to ensure our colleagues are fully supported during this time and we will work to redeploy staff within the SSE group where possible.”

SSE employs about 6,000 people across Scotland.

Politicians have expressed disappointment at the decision and the impact it will have on more isolated communities.

Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil urged the company to rethink the closure of shops in Stornoway and Daliburgh – which would lead to the loss of six local jobs.

Mr MacNeil said: “SSE say this decision is based on falling sales and a move to online shopping, yet they are also closing the online shop, this just does not make sense.

“Many island customers make use of locally-based shops to purchase large items such as those sold in the SSE shops to avoid high delivery costs and have a local point of contact for any issues which might arise.”